News releases

Carlson Marketing Unveils Virtual Engagement Suite

MINNEAPOLIS | September 28, 2009

Carlson Marketing, an early adopter of the "engagement"
concept, is combining a variety of new technologies, relationship-building techniques and its strong background in
motivation to create a Virtual Engagement Suite. Through a Web-based platform, Carlson Marketing - the
country's largest independent marketing organization - now offers Fortune 1000 companies a virtual way to engage
customers, employees and channel partners in e-learning, meetings, events, trade shows and conferences.

Core to the Virtual Engagement Suite is a partnership with Unisfair, the
leading provider of virtual events and business environments, which will deliver the platform to host these event
experiences online.

"There are
several companies that present a virtual meeting capability," said Fay Beauchine, president, Engagement &
Events, Carlson Marketing, "but few offer the strategy, scalability, engagement expertise and full scope of
services available through our Virtual Engagement Suite."

The suite of services is based on existing and new Web technologies
including webinars, video broadcasting, presentation and media sharing, virtual microworlds and a variety of mobile and
social media practices.

"What we've
done is applied our engagement capabilities in an online setting," said Beauchine. "New technology allows us
to extend our expertise into new arenas, cutting across time and space, helping our clients expand the impact of their
critical event strategy. Virtual will never replace face-to-face interaction for building stronger relationships and
changing behavior, but can be very valuable in extending and supplementing experiences."

Carlson Marketing with its experts in traditional and new media has
corralled the best resources and applied them to client issues of engaging employees, channel partners and
customers.

According to
Beauchine, the tools are plentiful. However, using technology for the sake of technology is a sure-fire path to
failure. The key is developing a strategy that applies the right technology with the right audience, leveraging to
right strategy and content, and being able to measure the results.

"The tools
available to us now are just amazing. We now can interact with people through multiple - often self-selected -
channels. Some virtual tools have been around a long time," said Beauchine. "Webinars, live chats,
e-learning; we've been doing those for years, although it's always interesting to couple them with new
technology and new approaches. The newest virtual, social media and mobile engagement tools get participants engaged
sooner and longer. And our latest venture, virtual meetings and events, allow participants go to 'rooms' online
and interact with other 'people.' We're excited about the unique concepts we're developing by
leveraging virtual tools to extend the life of our live events."

In the Virtual Engagement Suite, attendees "visit" rooms, watch
presentations, participate in Q&A sessions, collect collateral materials, interact with sales reps in booths,
network with peers; almost the real experience except that you can't share a sandwich or cold beverage and your
feet don't get tired.

"The statistics
for virtual world trends are amazing," said Tina Gaccetta, vice president, Client Services, Carlson Marketing.
"Gartner predicts that by 2017 a billion people will be part of virtual worlds. Attendees at virtual meetings stay
engaged almost four times longer than in a Webcast.

"We've known for a dozen years that technology can be a strong
relationship builder if it's leveraged correctly. Clients are looking for virtual events to help them reach more
targets efficiently and on-brand, keep them engaged longer, and measure impact. That's where we add value, and why
we've partnered with Unisfair. They offer the technology; we create, integrate and track the engagement,"
concluded Gaccetta.

So which engagement
tools will enhance engagement and make you successful Gaccetta recommends a five-point checklist:

Are you connecting
with the right people

Does the tool
provide a positive impression of the brand

Does it prolong or
enhance the engagement with the brand

Is it simple to
use

Does it provide a
"WOW" factor.

"Our Virtual Engagement Suite allows smart marketers to employ all the
technology that's important for their event," concluded Beauchine. "Technology on its own cannot build
the perfect relationship. But it can drive deeper interaction - which is a big step - and can extend the impact of your
events."

Unisfair provides the leading virtual platform for
engaging customers and prospects on the web, in a cost-effective and measurable way. Unisfair has delivered virtual
events and environments for leading Fortune 1000 enterprises to connect with their prospects and customers. These
leaders are executing on a new vision: to use a virtual strategy across their marketing lifecycle to deliver superior
ROI.